Automobile lighting system



Nov. 27, 1934. c, H. BRASELTON 1,981,985

AUTOMOBILE LIGHTING SYSTEM Filed April 29, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l I NVENTOR Nov. 27, 1934.

c. H. BRASELTON 1,981,985

AUTOMOBILE LIGHTING SYSTEM Filed April 29, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l NVENTOR Patented Nov. 27, 1934 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE LIGHTING SYSTEM Chester II. Braaeiton, New York, N. Y.

Application April 29, 1930, Serial No. 448,874

Claims. (Cl. 171-97) This invention relates to automobile lighting of the battery is connected to a wire 17 which systems and particularly to a system for autois connected to the relay 14 while the negative matically turning on the lights of a vehicle when side is grounded on the frame 11 as indicated. darkness falls. This construction just described is found on 6 In the daily use of an automobile it is often practically all automobiles now in use and, of 60 advantageous to park the automobile during the course, any apparatus such as the spark plugs, hours of daylight allowing it to remain until after horn, and certain of the headlights may be opdark. In order to do this it is necessary either erated from the battery in the usual way. to turn the lights on before leaving the car or The wire 17 which is connected at one end to to make a special trip back to the car in the early the positive side of the battery and the relay 14, 65 evening in order to turn the lights on. If neither is connected at its other end to a fixed contact 18 of these precautions is taken the owner of the of a relay 19. The relay 19 has a movable armacar opens-himself not only to the danger of colture 20 having a contact 21 which is normally lision from other cars, the drivers of which may touching the contact 18, urged by the spring 22.

not see his car in the darlr, but in most instances The armature is connected by means of a wire 70 to the danger of breaking a city ordinance which 23 to a switch 24, the other end of the switch berequires lights on vehicles after sundown. ing connected by a wire to one side of the It is, therefore, one of the objects of the presparking lights 26, the other side of these lights ent invention to provide an apparatus which will being connected by means of a wire 27 to the 20 automatically turn on the lights of an automoframe 11. When the contacts 18 and 21 are in 75 bile as soon as it becomes dark. engagement and the switch 24 is closed it will be Another object of the invention is to provide evident that the lights 26 will receive current an apparatus for an automobile which will not from the battery 15 and will be energized. only automatically turn the lights on when it In order to eilect the automatic turning on and 25 becomes dark but which will automatically turn off of the lights 26 I provide a light-sensitive so them of! when it becomes light. cell 28 similar to the one described in the reissue Another object of the invention is to provide patent of Samuel Ruben, entitled Light sensitive an automatic l i v c f r a v hi iv n device Reissue No. 19,218, dated June 19th, 1934, by an internal combustion engine which will be which is positioned ont-some part of the automorendered inoperative by the turning on of the bile where it can receive diffused daylight. In 85 engine ignition Switch and which may on y be order to prevent this cell from operating by p r w n th i ni i n wi ch i turned lights of passing vehicles or other artificial lights Oth r o j ts f h invention will be pp nt in the vicinity of the automobile I provide a casas t description ereof proceeds. ing 29 which surrounds the cell and is open at one The invention has been illustrated in the acend 30 to permit diffused light to enter. This 90 mpa d awi s in w casing and lightsensitive cell may be positioned 1 is a dieillustration of one under the instrument board if desired, and an embodim nt h r f n opening may be provided in the side of the car Fig. 2 is a diagrammatical illustration of am through which the light may enter. other embodiment thereof. One terminal 31 of the light-sensitive cell may 95 n 1 a generator 10 is Shown having one be connected by means of a wire 32 to a reside connected to the frame 11 of a Vehicle by sistance 33, the other end of which is connected means of the wire 12 while the other side is 0011- by means of i 34 t the positive sid of a, n ot d y means of a Wire 13 to an automatic small battery 35. The negative side of the batcut-out switch or relay 14. The W 13 is tery 35 may be connected by means of the wire 10 tached to o e d of the Principal energizing 36 to one side of a potentiometer 3'7, the other coil 15 of t relay the other end of which is side of which may be connected by means of the attached by means of the. wire 16 to the frame 11. wire 38 t t wire 34 which i connected t th T e relay 1 has an armature which i adapted to positive side of the battery 35. The arm 39 of be moved when the magnet is energized and forms t potentiometer may be connected by means 105 the regular automatic cut-out switch which is of wire 4 t t other terminal 41 of th lightconnected to the battery 15 and closes the cirsensitive cell 2 Cult betw en t generator 10 and the battery With this arrangement the arm of the poteny when the generator is Produci a D tiometer 39 may be set so that the potential imtermined minimum voltage. The positive side pressed by the battery across the terminals 31 no and 41 or the light-sensitive cell 28 may be made to balance the dark potential of the cell so that when the cell is in darkness no current flows therethrough. However, when any light enters the cell a potential is set up therein which causes current to flow through the resistance 33.

In order to amplify any variation of the lightsensitive cell 28 I provide two shield grid tubes 42 and 43 connected together in cascade. The

grid 44 01' the tube 42 is connected by means of a wire 45 to the wire 32 or, in other words, to the terminal 31 of the light-sensitive cell. The anode 46 of the tube '42 is connected to one end of a resistance 4'7 and to one side of the con-' denser 48 by means of the wire 49, the other end of the resistance being connected by means oi. the wire 50 to the positive side of a B battery 51. The other side of the B battery 51 is connected to a wire 52 which forms the positive filament lead of the vacuum tubes 42 and 43 and is connected to the wire 17 through the switch 55 by means of leads 52' and 1'? and therefore, to the positive side of the automobile storage battery 15. A wire 53 is connected to the frame 11 and to a resistance 54 the other side of which is connected by means of a wire 56 to a wire 57 which is connected to the positive side of the battery 35. Wires 58 and 59, both connected to the wire 56, are connected respectively to the negative filament terminals of the vacuum tubes 42 and 43, while wires 60 and 61, both connected to the wire 52, are connected respectively to the positive filament terminals of the vacuum tubes 42 and 43. Thus connected the tube filaments are in parallel and are energized from the battery 15 when the switch 55 is closed, the resistance 54 being used to maintain the proper voltage supplied to the vacuum tubes.

The casing 29 which holds the light-sensitive cell 28 may be provided with a movable shutter 29' which is pivoted at 30' and when closed prevents any light from striking the light-sensitive cell. Any suitable means for opening and closing the shutter when the switch is moved may be employed. As illustrated an arm 30a is attached to the shutter 29' and is connected by means of a link 29a to a bell crank 3012 which is pivoted at 300. The other side of the bell crank is connected by means of a. link 3011 to the arm 55a of the switch 55 so that when the switch 55 is rotated the shutter 29' will open and close.

The switch 55 may be a three-way switch as indicated having a contact 55' which may be connected by means of a. wire 56 to a distributor 57' from which the wires to the induction coils and spark plugs (not shown) are led. When the ignition is turned on as by moving the switch to the terminal 55, the vacuum tubes 42 and 43 are de-energized and the shutter 29' for the light-sensitive cell is closed so that the automatic lighting apparatus will not operate when the engine is running. The third contact 54 of the switch 55 may have nothing connected to it so that it is the oil position of the switch when neither the ignition nor the vacuum tubes are turned on.

In order to provide for no movement of the shutter 29 when the switch 55 is turned to the ofi position I provide a lost-motion device in the link 29a. A slot 2911 is provided in the end of the link 29a and the pivot 29c attached to the arm 30a is positioned in this slot. A spring 29b urges the arm 30:: toward one end of the slot as indicated so that when the switch 55 is moved to the contact 54' the link 29a may still move away from the arm 30:: against the tension of the spring 29b, the pivot 29c merely moving in the slot 29d. v

The other sideot the condenser 48 is 'connected to the grid 82 of the vacuum tube 43 and to one end of a grid leak 63, the other side of which is connected by means of the wire 84 to the negative filament terminal of the vacuum tube 43. The anode 65 of the vacuum tube 43 may beconnected by means of a wire 86 to one side of the magnet coil 8'7 of a relay 19. The other side of this magnet coil may be connected by means of the wire 68 to the positive side of the B battery 51.

I prefer to use shield grid tubes so as to get a greater amplification and as shown the shield grid 69 o! the tube 42 is connected to the shield grid 70 01 the tube 43 by means of the wire 71 and both are connected by means of the wire '72 to a positive potential as at 73 on the battery 51.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming that it is broad daylight and it is desired to park the automobile on a street where lights are necessary after dark and that the engine is rimning, the switch 24 may first be closed. Inasmuch as the contacts 18 and 21 are touching as urged by the spring 22, a circuit is closed through the parking lights 26, which are then lighted, drawing current from the battery 15. The switch 55 is then turned to the position indicated in full lines which turns off the ignition, thus stopping the engine, opens the shutter 29', and closes the vacuum tube circuit which energizes the two vacuum tubes 42 and 43. Inasmuch as it is daylight, a potential will be set up between the terminals 41 and 31 of the light-sensitive cell 28 and current will fiow through the resistance 33 which will cause a difference in potential between the grid 44 and the filament 42 of the vacuum tube 42. I prefer to use a light-sensitive cell in which the terminal 31 becomes positive and the light-sensitive terminal 41 negative under .the influence of light, as described in the application above referred to, and if such a cell is used, the grid 44 of the vacuum tube 42 will be charged positively due to the influence of light and the electron stream flowing from the cathode 42' to the anode 46 will be increased. The anode current flowing through the resistance 47 will cause a positive potential to be built up on the grid 62 of the vac-' uum tube 43 thus causing an increased flow of electrons from the filament 43 to the anode 65 and increasing the current in the anode circuit of the tube 43, which includes the relay 19, energizing the magnet coil 67 and causing. the armature 20 to move toward the magnet thereby separating the contacts 18 and 21.

It is thus evident that with the cell 75 it is possible to do away with the battery 35 and potentiometer 37 as well as the resistance 33. As the dark current flow in the cell 75 is practically zero and the terminal 76 becomes negative when light affects the cell it will be evident that the grid 44 of the first tube 42 cannot ever become positive and therefore, there will be little current flowing through the cell '75 which might cause it to deteriorate. If desired a "0 battery '79 may be provided to eliminate any current flowing in the grid circuit.

With the use of such a cell the grids of the tube are rendered more negative as the light is increased and hence there is a falling off of the anode current with increase of light so that a difierent relay arrangement must be provided in the output circuit of the last tube. Thus the relay has a magnet coil 81 connected in the plate circuit of the tube 43 exactly the same as the magnet 67 in Fig. 1. The armature 82, however, is pivotally mounted and urged away from the magnet 81 by means of the spring 83 and the contacts 84 and 85 are so arranged that they are opened when the magnet is de-energized as the spring 83 draws the armature away from it, and closed when the magnet 81 is energized. The contacts 84 and 85 take the place of the contacts 18 and 21 of Fig. 1. They are connected respectively to the wires 17 and 23 which are connected to the battery and to the light as shown in Fig. 1. In this modification, therefore, it will be seen that the relay 80 releases due to the effect of light upon the light-sensitive cell 75 which thereupon opens the contacts 84 and 85, and is energized when light no longer afifects the cell 75, thereby closing the contacts 84 and 85 and tuming on the light.

It will thus be seen from the above description that the device of either figure will automatically light the lights on an automobile when it becomes dark and also automatically turn the lights out when it becomes daylight again. Also it will be evident that the ignition switch is so arranged that the automatic lighting device cannot be operated when the ignition is turned on so that there will be no possibility of operating the vacuum tubes while the car is running.

When the light-sensitive cell is not in use it will be noted that it is maintained in total darkness by the shutter 29' closing the opening 30 and the casing 29 and the cell is thus protected from any deterioration due to the intensity of light so that the life of the cell is prolonged. The shutter also protects the cell from any dust which might accumulate on the window thereof and insures a clear reception of light when the shutter is opened.

While I have described the invention in connection with an amplifier using two shield grid tubes it will be evident that in some instances the light-sensitive cell may be made to operate directly on a sensitive relay or more vacuum tubes may be used to amplify the action of the lightsensitive cell, depending on the type of cell used and the type of relay.

While I have described the invention in con-,

nection with an automobile it will also be evident that it may be used with any type of vehicle including railroad trains, buses, ships, aeroplanes, and dirigible balloons.

Many modifications of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit thereof and I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the specific embodiment shown and described except as such limitations occur in the appended claims.

What I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vehicle lighting system a source of electrical energy, an electric light, a switch for controlling said light in the circuit between said light and source of energy, a light-sensitive cell, an amplifier connected to said light-sensitive cell and adapted to operate said switch, movable means to control the light falling on said lightsensitive cell, and means to simultaneously move said light controlling meansand energize said amplifier.

2. In a vehicle lighting system a source of electrical energy, an electric light, a switch between said light and said source of energy, a light-sensitive cell, a shutter for said light-sensitive cell to control the amount of light to be received thereby, means between said light-sensitive cell and said switch to control the operation of said switch by the light falling on said lightsensitive cell, and means to simultaneously energize said last mentioned means and open said shutter.

3. In an automobile lighting system a source of electrical energy, an electric light, a switch connected between said light and source of energy, a light-sensitive cell, an amplifier connected to said light-sensitive cell, means controlled by said amplifier to operate said switch whereby said switch is controlled by the light falling upon said cell, a. shutter for said light-sensitive cell, a multiple contact ignition switch having an ignition contact and switch contact, means to open said shutter when said ignition switch is turned to the other contact, and means to simultaneously energize said amplifier when said switch is so turned.

4. In a lighting system for a vehicle an electric light, a source of energy for said light, an electrical connection between said source and said light and including a switch, means to operate said switch, a light-sensitive cell, means connecting said light-sensitive cell with said switch operating means whereby said switch is controlled by the effect of light upon said light-sensitive cell, a relatively large housing open at one end surrounding said light-sensitive cell to protect said cell from direct light, a cover for the open end of said housing, a second switch to control the operation of said first mentioned means, and mechanical means for connecting said cover with said second switch whereby said cover is closed when said switch is opened.

5. In a lighting system for a vehicle adapted to be propelled by an internal combustion engine an. electric light, a source of electrical energy, a connection between said light and said source and including a switch, magnetic means for operating said switch, a light-sensitive cell, an amplifying device between said cell and said magnetic means whereby said switch is controlled by the light affecting said light-sensitive cell, a double contact switch, one of said contacts being connected to the ignition system of said internal combustion engine and the other of said contacts being connected to said amplifying device whereby either saidignition system or said amplifying device may be energized, a housing for said light-sensitive cell having an opening at one end and being large enough to prevent direct rays from reaching said cell but permitting said cell to be aflected by diiIused light, a cover for the open end of said housing, and mechanical means controlled by said double contact switch for closing said cover to protect said cell against the effect of light when said double contact switch is moved to deenergize said amplifying'device.

CHESTER H. BRASELTON. 

